


the beast that shouted love

by aestheticisms (R_Vienna)



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Gen, Introspection, March 5th
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 21:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1279855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_Vienna/pseuds/aestheticisms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He bites down on his lower lip, and stares, stares, stares--she giggles at his shock, and rattles her chains. </p>
<p>“A little help would be appreciated, Minato Arisato.” </p>
<p>(Minato, Minako, and the World.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the beast that shouted love

the beast that shouted love (at the heart of the world)

* * *

 

Dying, well, that was something. 

It was difficult to wrap his head around it, considering he was brand new to the ordeal, but to be completely honest, it felt like he’s gone through it before. The sensation—falling asleep—was second nature, and felt more comfortable than the threadbare touch of his Gekkoukan High School uniform, or the hilt of his one-handed sword. He couldn’t see much, aside from the long stretches of dark, but could that really qualify as something he could see? it was as if he was walking down a hallway with his eyes closed, blindly grabbing at air, in some sort of attempt to balance himself. Every twenty steps there would be a shining light, a bright post to his left, with a roman numeral. 

He’s been through enough this school year to know that those roman numerals were important. There wasn’t a post with a zero. 

As expected. The power invested in him by the Velvet Room was now gone, replaced by something far stronger than the wild card—Elizabeth called it “The World”, arcana number twenty-one. With each column he passed, his mind wandered. 

 

** The magician, the high priestess, and the empress.  **

 

Junpei would crack a joke at his expense. He was the kind of guy he wouldn’t have associated himself with, Junpei Iori ran hot and cold, but he would be there for you, until the very end. He would say something like: “Leader? Damn, that dude’s got balls of steels. I mean, he wouldn’t lose to a nap. That would be ridiculous!” 

The thought was humorous, really, Junpei explaining his comatose state to the rest of the juniors at Gekkoukan High. 

Ah, but Fuuka-san would be upset if he didn’t keep going, and Mitsuru-senpai, lord knows how she would react to his sluggish trek towards the end of this abominable hallway. It was worse than the Velvet Room elevator that only went up, desperately chasing the stars and shadows above, far too lofty to ever truly converge with the earthly realm it was forever entwined with. 

 

** The emperor, the hierophant, and the lovers. **

 

Akihiko-senpai was probably still yelling at him from below, urging him to keep going. to never give up, never get stuck in the past. He tries not to think too much about Shinjiro-senpai, he doesn’t think too much about the pain in his chest. (It doesn’t make sense for him to feel so discontent with his death. There’s something more than sympathy. There’s trauma.)  

A couple more steps.

His lips curve into the smallest of smiles. 

His phone still carries her strap. 

Yukari, Yukari. 

Sometimes he wishes he hadn’t been so mean to her. 

His hand finds his forehead and he pushes his hair back. She would always cut it for him when she deemed it too long for it to be acceptable in combat. She was always looking out for him in her own, weird way. 

God.

His slouch intensifies, and in seconds, he finds himself on the floor next to the sixth column. Deep breaths: one, two, three.

He wasn’t used to this, _feeling._ Emotions were never his forte, maybe it was because he was a harbinger of doom for the last ten years of his life, or maybe it was because he never felt the need to. 

Because, because, because. 

How irritating. He picks himself up and keeps walking into the heart of the abyss.

 

** The chariot, justice, and the hermit. **

 

Ken Amada. He tries not to laugh. There is no mirth in the gesture. 

The only child with a past tainted by a tragedy worse than his own. 

If there was anything he regretted, if there was one thing he would want to go back and change, it would be his relationship with Ken Amada.

He should’ve said something. Anything. 

They were cut from the same blood-stained cloth.

(But there’s something in the pit of his stomach that tells him not to worry, that he’ll have plenty of time for repentance, redemption, even.) 

 

** Fortune, strength, and the hanged man.  **

 

The walls were coming apart at the seams, there’s something liberating about the atmosphere now. There’s a sense of freedom, the air is lighter, he can see past the murky black, into something more vibrant—pinpricks of silver and gold, little tiny stars dancing above and around him. Hands in his pressed pants pockets, he presses forward, thinking about the avatar of Nyx.

Ryoji. 

A moment of silence is good enough for him. The kind of silence that stretches into the ether and back, leaves you writhing. 

At least Koromaru used to be there to accompany him, he would sit next to him during those quiet, dorm nights. 

 

** Death, temperance, and the devil. **

 

He’s never been too fond of the sky. Maybe it was the sun’s glare, mocking and ever bright, burning even on the cloudiest of days. He didn’t like the way it made his eyes hurt. 

That could be one of the thousands of reasons Pharos visited him at night, during the Dark Hour, and talked to him. He wasn’t sure who was lonelier during the first weeks on Tatsumi Port Island—the boy in the striped pajamas, or him.

Well. To give the boy credit, he was never truly alone. 

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. If only his music player worked here. 

 

** The tower, the star, and the moon. **

 

The hallway wasn’t really a hallway, now that he thought about it. There were stairs. 

It was a staircase, a staircase that stretched into the void and beyond, and he really didn’t like it. How long has it been since he died? 

Maybe it’s been years. Or seconds. 

He could still be basking in the springtime sun in Aigis’s arms right now. 

 

** The sun, aeon, and judgement. **

 

Oh god, _Aigis._

The girl who grew a heart, took his hand and pressed it against her face and sighed into it, the girl who begged for humanity—and learned she didn’t need it. She didn’t need humanity in the way the rest of the world does, she was the kindest, most noble soul to ever grace his hellhole of a life. 

If his previous theory was correct, she was still signing him a lullaby;

She took his hand and walked him to the doors of death. 

The doors were getting closer. The floor below faded into cobblestone and broken asphalt, he kneeled down and brushed his fingers against the remnants of a once beautiful road.

“Sorry, Aigis. I’m sorry we couldn’t take the trip together.”

 

** The World.  **

 

He bites down on his lower lip, and stares stares stares--she giggles at his shock, and rattles her chains. 

“A little help would be appreciated, Minato Arisato.”

In that moment he craves the hallway he just left. A girl, chained to an intricate door, with symbols and with runes elaborately crafted to its wood frame, yes, this wasn’t what he expected the afterlife to grant him. 

A pause for reflection, then the jolt of shock.

She knows his name.

The shock subsides. It seems normal, so normal, this girl, this plaza, this door—all of it is far too familiar, it does not make chills run down his spine, it does not make his blood run cold. It’s the comforting embrace from a dead mother. 

His hands finally leave his pockets, he steps forwards and brushes his fingertips against her chains. They’re silver, they’re gold, thinning and thickening with every passing second, the flow of time seems to be responsible for her present engagement.

But they’re waning underneath the moonlight. 

She shakes them again, and a shackle slips from her wrist. 

“Way to leave a girl hanging, Minato-kun! God, did you treat all of your girlfriends like this?” 

He scoffs, _no, of course not!_ , and helps her down from her cross-shaped prison, a symbol that reminds him too much of tartarus.

They’re the same height. 

“Thanks!” When she smiles, she is the sunshine to his moon, and he can already hear Junpei make the comparison. Junpei would like her, he thinks. He needs someone to ground him. 

“Thanks a lot, Minato. It really means the world to me.” 

He blinks, and arches a brow. 

“I’m really sorry about leaving here all alone, again, I mean, I told you last time that it would be the _last,_ last time, but I guess things got messed up. Which is weird, I mean, you would think that after the both of us had a go at it, things would get better, right?” 

The shackle fits like an old glove. 

“I’ll have to ask Elizabeth. or Theo, gosh, I really, really missed Theo. did you get to see him while you were out there?” 

The silence answers her query.

“No, of course not.” She deflates momentarily before stretching, arms reaching towards the heavens. “I’ll just have to chat with him at some point.” 

Despite her cheerful soprano and her other bright mannerisms, he could tell there was something bothering her. Something in her gaze—red eyes didn’t suit a girl like her.

“I’ll just have to make sure everything goes right. I owe it to you, you know? You’re the one who saved me, and I gotta save you. That’s how things work around here!”

He sighs a little, he’s still so tired. So, so tired. 

"Unless…"

The girl’s still talking to herself, rambling on and on, before stopping suddenly. She turns to look at him, and then, she reaches out her hand and cups his cheek.

A worn, leather wrist watch and an opal ring press against his face.

"You don’t remember anything, do you?"

He doesn’t expect that to be the words that come out of her mouth, she has a sad smile on her pink lips, and she closes her eyes and tries to muster another smile.

"That’s fine, we can work with this, through this!" Her hand leaves his face, and finds his wrist. Her fingertips squeeze his life force, trail against his pale veins. "We always do, you and me! The promised twins."

She lets go of his arm, and pats down her skirt, adjusts her uniform jacket.

The silence is kind, it gives him time to think about his new role, the word “seal” pops into his head. Seal. Ah, right. he was a seal for Nyx. The guardian of the waking world.

But, if that was the case…

“How—no, _why_ are you going back?"

She’s surprised by his question, and turns around to face him again, with an airy giggle.

"Well, you don’t wanna be stuck here forever, right? I gotta go back and try to save the both of us! I mean, in the end, neither of us win, you know? We both become seals for Nyx and neither of us get to be human, we don’t get to spend our days with our friends, our lovers! And I don’t think that’s fair."

"No, not fair at all."

He wonders which member of SEES fell in love with her. Which member she was fighting for.

He doesn’t have to wonder for too long.

"Don’t be silly, I’m not doing it just for senpai, even though he’s definitely one of the main reasons, haha." She places her hands behind her back, links her fingers together, and leans forward.

"I’m doing it for everyone! For everyone’s sake, yours, mine, theirs. I want all of us to be happy. To have no regrets."

"I know I still have a few."

He thinks of Ken, Junpei, Aigis.

"So, sit tight okay! I’ll be back before you know it!" Her carmine gaze burns brighter than before, she takes his cheek again and kisses his forehead, brushing away his shaggy blue hair with her left hand.

"It’ll be like falling asleep, hehe. We both got plenty of experience with that."

She leaves, but not before granting him another cheery wave and a brilliant smile.

Minato watches her disappear into the light.

He tries not to laugh. 

If only she knew, the truth. The fact that this wasn’t their third, or fourth attempt.

This cycle’s been in motion for hundreds and thousands of years. 

There is no victory here.

His shackles glisten. He shakes them a little, finds the rattle comforting.

She is the beast that shouted love at the heart of the world, and who is he, the incarnation of death, to stop her.

* * *

 

"Good luck, Minako.” 

A sad smile.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for.” 

**Author's Note:**

> !! hi hello, im kind of rusty, but after march 5th rolled by i decided to crack open the persona fic file and get something out for the big day, but oops, i'm a day late! anyway, i had lots of fun writing this, haha. 
> 
> the titles comes from episode 26 of evangelion lol the entire fic came into being because i couldn't quite shake the phrase off of me, and i felt it was really fitting for the arisato twins! especially for minako, because she is love! 
> 
> too bad she's not canon :^( 
> 
> also, thank you diana for beta-reading this, and thank you, for reading! 
> 
> \- angie


End file.
